I'll Tell You In The Afterlife
by Katty008
Summary: The question that Conan was asked so long ago in a time-bombed elevator is finally answered in a room at the police station... in Takagi's own short afterlife.


**Disclaimer: Don't own Detective Conan or APTX 4869.**

**Umm... Came to me while watching Youtube. There should be more fics about random people shrinking**

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_Sato-san… that's right, he had to get to Sato-san, no matter what._

_ No, that wasn't right. If he went to Sato-san, he could put her in danger. He couldn't do that. Whatever had just happened, he couldn't bring her into it._

_ But… who else would he go to? He had to go to someone… he had to put someone in danger. There was no other option._

_ He had to get to Sato-san. He could make her understand._

*****

"Hey! Don't try and pull this kind of trick on me, kid! You're wasting my time! Where are your parents?" Sato Miwako realized she must have been scaring the poor kid, but really. Takagi was late to work and hadn't called yet, and all of a sudden this kid was trying to play a prank on her by saying he was Takagi. Kids these days!

"No, Sato-san," the hapless child pleaded. "It's really me! Please believe me!"

Sato folded her arms. What kind of parents did this kid have anyway? Letting him run around outside in his father's clothes bothering policemen?

"I can prove it!" the kid nearly shouted, but didn't. He rummaged around in the back pocket of the pants that were dragging on the floor and, from the dirt stains, had tripped the kid up several times already today. He pulled out a wallet, flipped it open, and handed it to her. "See?"

Sato opened her mouth to berate the child some more, but then looked – actually _looked_ – at the wallet in question.

_Takagi Wataru_. That was Takagi's I.D. right there in the front. And a picture of him, trying to look gruff and menacing but only managing cuddly puppy. The child pulled another thing out of his pocket: Takagi's police badge. Sato took both of these things from the small hands and looked at them in awe. She looked from the I.D. to the child, and back to the I.D. again. It could be…

Nah. That was silly.

"Please, Sato-san. You can take my fingerprints if you want. I'm Takagi. Please believe me. Please help me. I don't know what to do."

"But…" Sato trailed off, finding herself at a loss for words. Her look changed to a steely glare. "This is impossible. You are going to tell me where you found these things. Then I am going to call Takagi to berate him for leaving them wherever you found them. Then I am going to call your parents, after I wrangle a real name out of you, and they are going to come here, and I am going to scold you and them a lot."

"You can try, but Takagi-keiji won't answer his phone. He's dead."

But heads swiveled to the formerly closed door, which had apparently been closed again after Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai had fully entered. At her statement Conan glared. "Oi oi. You're being overdramatic."

"What do you mean?" Sato asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Play the recording," Haibara commanded. Conan obliged, pulling a portable music player with built in speakers out of his pocket. He pressed the play button, and the machine came the life.

_"…until you free my daughter!"_

_ "Give us the money first."_

_ "How do I know you won't just take the money and then kill the both of us?"_

_ "You don't."_

_ "Exactly! I asked around after you first kidnapped her! You lot are liars and cheats! The lowest scum of the earth! You-"_

The man stopped shouting abruptly as there was a pained groan and a soft thud. Then a gunshot, and a second body hitting the ground.

_"You're right. We are liars and cheats, but I'll thank you not to mention that in the afterlife. So Aniki, who is this guy?"_

The chilly new voice made Sato's blood freeze.

_"I saw him spying on your operation, so I thought I'd help out. I've seen him before; I think he's a cop. That banker said we were the lowest scum of the earth, but cops must certainly be lower. Time to pull out the miracle pill I suppose."_

_ "Hai, hai!"_

There was a pause, then the chilly-voiced man spoke again.

_"These two can discuss their poor fortune together in Hell. And no one will ever know."_

Conan quietly pressed stop, observing the two police officers in front of him. "Earlier yesterday Takagi-keiji got one of my tracking bugs stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I didn't notice until I was testing the new homing glasses. When I realized what was going on, I immediately started recording the conversation in hopes of gaining some clues. I tried to make it to the place where he was in time, even though I knew that by that point it would be hopeless. It surprised me greatly then when the tracking bug started moving again. Now I'm just glad I made it here in time before one of you did something stupid and gave us all away."

Sato glanced down at the unknown child beside her. So he had looted Takagi's dead body for the I.D. and _shoes_ just to play a prank?

Takagi's dead body…

Ai seemed to read Sato's mind. "Apotoxin 4869. A poison developed by the Organization that Takagi-keiji encountered. The 'miracle pill' that Gin referred to in the recording. Causes death via mass apoptosis of the cells and leaves no trace. Quite the painful way to go, if I may say so myself."

"Say so yourself…" Sato repeated under her breath. "Hey, what do you mean by that?" she demanded louder.

Conan smirked at that. "Fortunately unknown to the Organization, Apotoxin 4869 is not foolproof. There is a small chance that something else will happen, and reversing that effect is what Haibara here is currently working on."

"But… what is that effect?" Sato asked, glancing down at the child beside her. It couldn't be. He couldn't have been telling the truth all along…

Conan looked at the child in the too-large clothes. "Takagi, you once asked me who I am. I can give you one better. You're one of us now."

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**AND that's it. That's all I have. Although... I might post more if I get any more ideas (so if you have any suggestions...?)**

**Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated.**


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